Part 174

Adult male.--Above, including sides of head and of neck, dark slate-gray; upper tail-coverts nearly black; wings and tail dark brown; secondaries and wing-coverts edged with slate-gray; a partly concealed white patch or band on each side of nape; under parts white; breast, sides, flanks, and thighs washed with slate-gray. A male from Basilan measures: Wing, 69; tail, 43; culmen from base, 13.5; bill from nostril, 9.5; tarsus, 21.

Adult female.--Above, including sides of head and of neck, rich rusty brown, shading into bright chestnut on tail-coverts, tail, and edges of secondaries; wings and tail dark brown; exposed edges of primaries rusty brown; under parts white; breast, sides, flanks, and thighs washed with rusty brown. A female from Basilan measures: Wing, 66; tail, 43; culmen from base, 14; tarsus, 21.

The female of this species resembles very closely the female of Rhinomyias ruficauda, but differs in having a shorter tail and longer tarsus.

"We obtained a series of eight specimens from Basilan, and a single bird from Mindanao. Not one of the Basilan birds shows a trace of 'yellowish white' on the tail-feathers; otherwise, they agree with Blasius's description. As the Mindanao bird collected by us also lacks all trace of any lighter color on the tail-feathers, we do not feel like separating the birds from the two islands.

"The Basilan flycatcher is found on the ground in the forest and is fairly common in Mindanao and Basilan. Eight males from the latter island average: Length, 127; wing, 68; tail, 43; culmen, 16; tarsus, 21; middle toe with claw, 19. Iris black; anterior surface of legs and upper surface of feet pale leaden; back surface of legs and bottoms of feet white; bill black." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

408. MUSCICAPULA SAMARENSIS Bourns and Worcester.

SAMAR FLYCATCHER.

Muscicapula samarensis Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 26; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 237, pl. 6, fig. 6 (egg); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 105 (habits, plumage); Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 224; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 263; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 72.

Leyte (Whitehead); Samar (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester).

"Adult male.--Top of head, sides of face, ear-coverts, and hind neck nearly black; back, rump, and upper wing-coverts uniform dark slaty blue; quills and tail fulvous-brown, slightly washed with slaty blue; chin and throat white; entire breast bluish gray, lightest on center of breast; abdomen white; flanks washed with bluish gray; under wing-coverts light buff, nearly white at base; sides dark slate-color as are under wing-coverts and axillars, the latter, however, mottled with white; a superciliary stripe of white beginning over eye and extending to nape, then inward, nearly reaching the median line; sexes alike. Iris very dark brown; bill black; legs, feet, and nails very light brown. Measurements from four males: Length, 119; wing, 61; tail, 38; culmen, 15; tarsus, 20.

"The specimens described are in breeding plumage. They were shot close to, or on, the ground in dense thickets in the deep woods.

"This species is closely allied to M. mindanensis Blasius, from which it differs in its darker head, lighter tail, and much larger superciliary stripe. None of our specimens shows a white bar on the rump, but we find the Mindanao-Basilan birds variable in this respect." (Bourns and Worcester.)

"Female.--Upper parts rusty brown, darkest on the crown, and shading into chestnut on the upper tail-coverts, the superciliary stripes of the male only represented by a white feather or two on the sides of the occiput; wings and tail dark brown, the exposed parts of the quills mostly chestnut; sides of the head and neck light rusty brown, palest round the eye, and forming a rather marked ring; under parts much like those of the male, but the distinct gray pectoral zone is replaced by one tinged with rusty; thighs brownish buff, under tail-coverts buff. The type measures: Length, 109; culmen, 14; wing, 61; tail, 37; tarsus, 19. A second female measures: Length, 109; culmen, 15; wing, 62; tail, 37; tarsus, 19.

"In general appearance the female of Muscicapula samarensis bears a close resemblance to Rhynomyias ruficauda, the under parts being strangely alike in both. The latter species is, however, easily recognized by its much longer tail. 'Iris and bill black; tarsus bluish white; feet white.--J. W.'

"The Samar white-browed flycatcher is described by Messrs. Bourns and Worcester as having the sexes alike, but a mistake has evidently been made in ascertaining the sex of the slate-colored bird described as a female. Mr. Whitehead obtained two pairs of this species, and the females differ entirely from the males in the color of the upper parts, which are rusty brown, while the strongly marked white eyebrow-stripes are practically absent. There can not be the slightest doubt that the rufous-brown females are fully adult, for one was shot from a nest with four eggs, and that they belong to the same species as the slate-gray males is almost equally certain.

"I observe that the type of M. mindanensis Blasius, Jour. für Orn. (1890), 147, a gray bird, is said to have been a female, but here probably a mistake has been made. There are two adult gray examples of this flycatcher from the Steere collection, both of which are said to be males, and they agree perfectly with the description of the type." (Grant.)

Whitehead secured two fresh eggs of the Samar white-browed flycatcher near Paranas, Samar, on June 17, 1896. The eggs and nest are described as follows:

"Shape ovate. Ground-color beautiful sea-green, speckled all over, especially toward the larger end, with pale brown, the over-markings being slightly darker and smaller. Measurements 19 mm. by 13 mm.

"The nest, a remarkably frail structure, was made of roots and lined with broad leaves. It was well concealed, being placed close to the ground in a heap of forest-drift near some rocks. The female bird was snared." (Grant and Whitehead.)

Genus GERYGONE Gould, 1841.

Bill moderately depressed, depth at nostrils equal to about two-thirds of its width, or two-fifths of bill from nostril; culmen with a slight ridge; rictal and nasal bristles moderate; wing fairly long, covering when folded about two-thirds of the tail; first primary narrow, equal to one-half of second which is considerable shorter than the subequal third, fifth, and sixth; fourth primary slightly the longest; tarsus slender and equal to twice the length of exposed culmen; tail slightly rounded and considerably shorter than wing. The two Philippine species are very similar in colors; upper parts ashy brown, lower part light yellow, lores whitish.

Species.

a1. Crown slightly lighter. (Luzon, Mindoro, and other northern islands.) ... simplex (p. 447) a2. Crown slightly darker. (Mindanao and Sulu Islands.) ... rhizophoræ (p. 448)

409. GERYGONE SIMPLEX Cabanis.

PHILIPPINE GERYGONE.

Gerygone simplex Cabanis, Jour. für Orn. (1872), 316; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4, 213; Hand-List (1901), 3, 226; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 72.

Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Jagor, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindoro (McGregor); Verde (McGregor).

Adult (sexes alike).--Above, including sides of head and neck, ashy gray, with a very slight olivaceous tinge on back; lores and a line over eye whitish; under parts clear straw-yellow, deepest on chin and throat; under tail-coverts white, washed with yellow; thighs slightly ashy; wings and tail brown with light edges to the feathers; wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts like the crown; each of the rectrices except the middle pair with a white spot on inner web near tip and a preceding dusky band; edge and lining of wing pale yellow. Iris dark brown; bill black; legs dark plumbeous. A male from Laguna de Bay measures: Length, 122; wing, 51; tail, 36; culmen from base, 12.